Missing Northern California restaurant owner was behind on loan

ROSEVILLE - A missing Northern California restaurateur was in default on a $1.5 million loan from a city nonprofit intended to help kick-start his Sammy Hagar-themed restaurant.

The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/1fRPNwG) Steve Pease of Roseville was last seen Nov. 3 when he checked out of a Fort Bragg motel and drove off in a rental car.

The Roseville Community Development Corporation announced Monday that the 57-year-old Pease was in default on the loan the agency had granted him a little more than a year ago as he got Sammy's Rockin' Island Bar & Grill off the ground.

Chris Maudru, who has been leading the effort to locate Pease, tells the newspaper it's inconceivable that his friend would disappear over a $9,000 monthly payment.